1/3 of publishing house leaders do not have an editorial practice certificate

Mr. Chu Hoa, Director of the Department of Publishing, Printing and Distribution, said that currently, 1/3 of publishing house leaders do not have an editing practice certificate. From January 1, 2016, if publishing house leaders do not have this certificate, it will be difficult for the publishing house's publications to be released to the market.

At the ceremony to award the editor practice certificate, which was recently held by the Department of Publishing, Printing and Distribution, Ministry of Information and Communications on the morning of December 9, in Hanoi, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Bao, Deputy Director of the Department of Publishing, Printing and Distribution, said: “The 2012 Publishing Law, which took effect from July 1, 2013, clearly defines the regulations on standards, duties and powers of editors and the positions of General Director (Director), Editor-in-Chief of publishing houses. Accordingly, Editor-in-Chief and editors of publishing houses must have an editing practice certificate issued by the Ministry of Information and Communications.”

However, Director Chu Hoa noted: "Currently, up to 1/3 of publishing house leaders (Editors-in-Chief, Directors) are still not granted certificates to practice editing, possibly because they are too busy to go to school or for some other reasons."

Illustration photo. Source: Internet.

This situation will cause difficulties for the publishers themselves because “from January 1, 2016, during the process of depositing copies, the system of the Department of Publishing, Printing and Distribution will automatically reject publications whose editors-in-chief or publisher directors do not have an editing practice certificate. At that time, the publication will not be able to be released to the market,” Mr. Chu Hoa emphasized.

As for the editors of publishing houses, up to now, there are still many editors who do not have a certificate of practice in editing. Meanwhile, according to the provisions of the Publishing Law, from January 1, 2016, only editors with a certificate of practice are allowed to have their names on publications. When submitting for deposit, publications published by editors who do not have a certificate of practice in editing will not be included in the list of publications released to the market.

Sharing more about the current situation of editors at publishing houses, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Bao commented: “Although the editorial team has a variety of degrees in majors, a high proportion of university and post-graduate degrees, a relatively young average age and is more dynamic than the previous generation of editors, they lack experience, are not uniform in their knowledge of law and publishing skills, and are even not solid in their expertise, professionalism, theoretical level and political will. The lack of a team of specialized editors, solid in their expertise and political will is also posing an urgent and long-term problem for publishing houses and the entire industry in training high-quality human resources.”

“The issuance of editorial practice certificates aims to contribute to improving the professional qualifications and political qualities of the editorial staff. Through the issuance and revocation of certificates, the editorial staff will be controlled and screened to ensure professional qualifications and expertise. Thereby, it contributes to ensuring the quality of publication content in the right direction and in compliance with legal regulations, bringing to society many good, valuable publications,” Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Bao added.

To effectively manage the practice certificates of the editorial team, the leaders of the Department of Publishing, Printing and Distribution requested that the directors and editors-in-chief of publishing houses closely coordinate in supervising and monitoring the editorial practice of editors, promptly detect violations, and proactively propose that the Department revoke the certificate if the editor commits serious content violations. Any editor who has not been granted a certificate is not allowed to edit and have his/her name on the publication.

According to Infonet